BSC High: Freshman Year
by Rachel D
Summary: Book One in a four part miniseries about the older BSC members in high school. I'm sorry if it's similar to any other stories on the topic. No flames, please! COMPLETED!
1. Chapter 1: September, Kristy

_**BSC HIGH: Freshman Year**_

A/N: Book One in a four-part miniseries about the older BSC members in high school. For story purposes, Dawn still lives in Stoneybrook.

_**CHAPTER 1: September—Kristy**_

_"I can tell there's no time left to criticize; I've seen what I could not recognize. Ev'rything in my life was leading me on, but I can be strong! Oh, yes, I can..."_

I awoke on a Tuesday morning to the sounds of "Don't Look Back" by Boston blaring from my radio, not to mention that God-awful buzzing. After a few minutes, I got out of bed and went to the closet. Today was an important day for me, because some of my friends in the Baby-sitters Club, or BSC, were joining me for the first day at Stoneybrook High School.

Before I go any farther, I should proably tell you more about myself. My full name is Kristin Amanda Thomas, but everyone calls me Kristy. (I only get called Kristin whenever someone's mad at me, which is also the name on my birth certificate, and when I get older, will be the name on my driver's license, high school diploma, and marriage certificate, when the time comes.) Anyway, I'm fourteen years old, on the short side, and have long brown hair and brown eyes. I may be the last of my friends to get a bra, but I'm the first one to get my period.

I'm also a very busy person. Not only am I the BSC president, but I also coach a softball team for little kids. It's called Kristy's Krushers, and the purpose of the team is to help kids who are either too young or too scared to try out for Little League. The average age is 5.8, and while they're not exactly Major League material, they're still a pretty average team. Let me explain it to you this way: when it comes to softball, they're really good at table tennis.

I come from a big, blended family. You see, my real dad walked out on us when I was in first grade, and about six years later, Mom met and married my stepfather, Watson Brewer, and we moved into his mansion. (Yes, you heard right, mansion; he's a millionaire.)

A lof of people live there. I have three brothers, two older and one younger. My older brothers are Charlie, who's eighteen and a freshman at NYU (he left home last week) and Sam, who's sixteen and a junior at SHS. My younger brother, David Michael, is eight and in third grade at Stoneybrook Elementary School. Watson also has two kids from his first marriage: Karen, who's almost eight and in third grade, and Andrew, who's five and in kindergarten. Both of them attend Stoneybrook Academy, a private school in our neighborhood. Mom and Watson also adopted Emily from Vietnam last year. She's now three, and entering preschool. Nannie, Mom's mother, moved in to help when Emily came to live with us. Add to that a Bernese mountain dog, a black cat, two goldfish, a part-time rat and hermit crab, and a guide dog puppy, and it gives new meaning to the term "full house".

The BSC is getting ready to celebrate its second anniversary. We meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 5:30 to 6:00, and parents can call us to line up baby-sitters. It saves the parents time, because that way, they don't have to call all over town just to find a baby-sitter. How do parents know about us? We advertise, of course. And whenever we hear of a new family in town, we present them with a flier, too, hoping to gain more business, and sometimes, new clients are gained through word-of-mouth. We also do the occasional fundraiser, so as you can see, we're pretty successful. Anyway, I got the idea for the BSC about a couple of years ago, while Mom and Watson were still dating (and when I didn't want to have anything to do with him, Karen, or Andrew, because I was still hoping my real dad would come back). I still remember that day like it was yesterday.

It was the hottest day of the school year, and when the last bell rang, I was so happy to get out of there to my air-conditioned house, but Mr. Redmont, my social studies teacher at the time, stopped me before I left, saying something about writing a paper on the importance of decorum in the classroom. As I did my homework that night, I found out it meant I'd been rude, but why hadn't Mr. Redmont just said so?

Anyway, Mom had brought a pizza home for dinner, which she only did whenever she had a favor to ask me and my older brothers. As it turned out, the favor was that her regular baby-sitter, who only watched David Michael twice a week, with me and my older brothers taking turns the other afternoons, had canceled, and she was wondering what my brothers and I were doing the next afternoon. Since we were all busy, she got on the phone and started calling all over town, looking for another baby-sitter. As I watched her make all those calls, I felt bad about her pizza getting cold, and then it hit me: why waste an hour on the phone when you can make one call and reach a whole bunch of sitters at once? Like the saying goes, the rest is history.

Claudia Kishi is the vice-president of the Baby-sitters Club. She's also fourteen and a freshman at SHS. Claud is Japanese-American, and very beautiful. She's not the best student in the world, which is unfortunate, because her older sister, Janine, who's seventeen and a senior at SHS, is a genuine genius. She may still be in high school, but takes college courses, and that's no joke. Claud, on the other hand, had to repeat some of seventh grade, but she was able to catch up and go to high school with us.

The reason why Claud's the BSC's VP is because she has her own phone and phone number, so she takes calls when we're not meeting. She lives with her parents and older sister. Her grandmother, Mimi, used to live with them, too, but she died about a year and a half ago. I know that Claud really misses her. Janine may be an academic genius, but Claud is an art genius, and sometimes makes her own jewelry.

Mary Anne Spier, my best friend since toddlerhood (don't you just love that word?), is the BSC secretary. Her mom died when she was a baby, and her dad pretty much raised her on his own, under very strict rules, keeping her in pigtails and little girls' clothes until she was in seventh grade, but loosened up when he realized Mary Anne was growing up. Mary Anne is one of the youngest of us. She's almost fourteen, but will be a freshman at SHS. She lives with her dad, stepmother, stepsister, and cat in a renovated barn. I'll tell you the romantic story later.

Stacey McGill is the BSC treasurer. She's also fourteen and a freshman at SHS. She's had a complicated life over the past couple of years. It all started the summer that she was twelve, when her dad's company transferred him to Connecticut. No sooner had Stacey settled in and joined the BSC, her dad's company transferred him back to New York. We were sad to see Stacey go, but a few months later, Stacey's parents got divorced, and Stacey got to decide which parent she wanted to live with. She chose to return to Stoneybrook with her mom. Mr. McGill stayed in NYC, because of his job, and Stacey visits him every other weekend. If there's one word to describe Stacey, it would be trouper, not because of her crazy life, but because she also has diabetes, which she was diagnosed with when she was in sixth grade. Once, a sweets binge, not to mention her changing body, put her in the hospital, and we were all scared, but thankfully, she's okay now.

The BSC also has two alternate officers who take over if someone has to miss a meeting, Abby Stevenson and Dawn Schafer. I'll start with Dawn, because she's Mary Anne's stepsister. Mrs. Schafer was raised in Stoneybrook, and went to college in California. Her high school sweetheart happens to be Mr. Spier. While she was in California, Mrs. Schafer met her first husband, and they had two kids, Dawn and Jeff. The Schafers divorced when Dawn was twelve, and Mrs. Schafer brought Dawn, whos' now fourteen, and Jeff, whos' now eleven.

Soon after that, Dawn and Mary Anne became friends. I'll admit, I was a little jealous of Dawn at first, but she was able to win me over. They soon made the discovery about their parents, and with some help from D & MA Matchmakers, Inc., Mr. Spier and Mrs. Schafer started dating again, and soon married. Then, Mary Anne, her dad, and her cat, Tigger, moved into the Schafers' 200-year-old farmhouse. Sadly, the farmhouse burned to the ground a few months ago, and they recently turned the barn into a house and moved into that. Unfortunately, Jeff never adjusted to life in Connecticut, so he moved back to California to live with his dad. Dawn went back for a few months, too, but we were glad when she returned.

Abby Stevenson is actually the youngest of us. Like Mary Anne, she's almost fourteen, but will be a freshman at SHS. She's originally from Long Island, and has a twin sister named Anna. They just moved to Stoneybrook last year. When the twins were nine, their father was killed in a car accident. Thankfully, Abby never lost her sense of humor, which grows on you. The Stevensons are Jewish, and a few months ago, the twins celebrated their Bat Mitzvah, which is a ceremony to welcome a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl into the adult Jewish community (of course, the Jewish boys have a _Bar _Mitzvah). The Stevensons live down the street from me.

The BSC also has two junior officers, Mallory Pike and Jessica Ramsey. They're twelve years old. Jessi is in seventh grade at SMS, and Mal attends a boarding school in Massachusetts. Honestly, we all feel kind of sorry for her.

Talk about crazy families! Mallory has seven siblings, and three of them are triplets. The triplets, Adam, Byron, and Jordan, are eleven and in sixth grade at SMS. The others attend Stoneybrook Elementary: Vanessa's ten and in fifth grade; Nicky's nine and in fourth grade; Margo's eight and in third grade; and Claire's six and in first grade. I can only imagine how crazy they must be driving those poor teachers!

Mallory loves writing stories, and Jessi loves ballet. In fact, I've seen Jessi dance, and she's really talented. Jessi lives with her parents, her Aunt Cecelia, who moved in to help when Mrs. Ramsey got a job, her nine-year-old sister, Becca, who's in fourth grade at SES, and her two-year-old brother, John Junior, or Squirt, as Jessi says the nurses in the hospital called him, because he was so tiny.

The BSC also has three associate members that we can call on when we're swamped with jobs: Logan Bruno, Shannon Kilbourne, and Jason Everett. Logan is fourteen, a freshman at SHS, and Mary Anne's boyfriend. He's originally from Kentucky, and moved to Stoneybrook last year. Shannon lives across the street from me, and is in ninth grade at Stoneybrook Day School, another private school in our neighborhood, and the only BSC member to go to one.

Jason also moved to Stoneybrook last year, and his life seems almost as complicated as Stacey's. You see, he was born in Scotland, and moved to America with his mom when he was four. (Jason says his real dad died about a month before he was born.) About a year and a half later, his mom married Steve, and Jason not only acquired a stepfather, but also a stepsister, Bebe, who's eleven and in sixth grade at SMS. Jason was also adopted by his stepfather, and took his last name. When Jason was ten, he got in a fight, and the other kid hit him in the face with a board that had a little nail sticking out of it, which is why Jason now has a scar on his right cheekbone. The interesting thing about Jason is the fact that even though he came to America at such a young age, his accent never went away completely. Jason is fifteen, but will be a freshman at SHS.

I snapped out of my reverie, and saw Sam staring at me. "Ready to go, _Kristin?" _he asked.

I rolled my eyes. Like I said before, only a few people ever call me that. "Yes, _Samuel," _I answered. Oh, well, at least he didn't call me Crusty. Otherwise, he'd be in _real _deep shit!

The two of us got into Sam's red Jeep and headed to school. On the way, we honked at Jason, who was on his way to school on his motor scooter, which he says he got for Christmas when he was thirteen.

I couldn't wait to see what the day would bring.

When we arrived at school, I saw my boyfriend, Cary Retlin, looking at his schedule. "Hi, Cary," I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi," he said.

When I picked up my schedule, here's what I saw:

**1****st**** period-Math**

**2****nd**** period-Home Ec. **(Oh, goody)

**3****rd**** period-P.E. **(Yea!)

**4****th**** period-study hall**

**5****th**** period-lunch**

**6****th**** period-English**

**7****th**** period-History**

**8****th**** period-science**

Just then, my other BSC friends happened to join me, and we were all comparing schedules. I also happened to look at Cary's schedule, and saw that we were in the same English class.

That's when the bell rang, and we disappeared into homeroom: Cary, Jason, and I into one; Claud, Stacey, and Abby into a seconed; and Mary Anne, Dawn, and Logan into a third.

Basically, the morning went like this: First period math with Mrs. Fredericks. Mary Anne, Dawn, Abby, and Logan were in my class. Second period Home Ec. with Ms. Ross and none of my BSC friends, but the BSC arch-enemies, Cokie Mason and Grace Blume. Third period was gym with Mrs. Ferguson. Mary Anne and Stacey were in my class. Fourth period study hall with Mrs. Jackson and Logan.

Fifth period was lunch. Logan and I met Mary Anne and Jason in the cafeteria, and we found a table. The day's lunch consisted of pizza, pineapple chunks, and milk. I discovered that the food was only _slightly _better than at SMS. Oh, well.

"So, how's your first day going?" I asked as we sat down at the table.

"So far, so good," Mary Anne said, opening her milk.

"That's good," Jason said, taking a bite of pizza. "I decided to give the hot lunch here a try."

"Good for you," I said.

As soon as we finished eating, and threw our trash away, the bell rang.

The afternoon also passed quickly: sixth period English with Mr. Johnson and Cary. Seventh period was History with Mr. Reed. Claud, Mary Anne, Stacey, Logan, and Jason were in my class. Mr. Reed told us that we'd be doing three different projects during the year, and each one would involve doing a project on a certain time period in history. Jason and I were paired together. I didn't mind, even though I know he's a good friend and neighbor, as well as Claudia's boyfriend. We decided to do ours on World War II. Mr. Reed told us that it would be due before Thanksgiving break, so we had plenty of time to work on it.

Eighth period was science with Mr. Martinez. Abby, Logan, and Jason were in my class. We knew the Martinez family, because we'd once baby-sat for the kids, nine-year-old Luke and four-year-old Amalia. Abby knew that Luke was keeping some secret about a fire in the neighborhood, so she invented a game to get him to spill the beans.

After the last bell rang, I went to my locker and got my stuff out. I knew that high school was just going to be a blast.


	2. Chapter 2: October, Dawn

_**CHAPTER 2: October—Dawn**_

After I left school on the first Friday in October, I was supposed to meet Jason's stepsister Bebe for a baby-sitting job at the Rodowskys'. Today was her test to see if she could qualify as a BSC member.

The Rodowskys have three boys: ten-year-old Shea, eight-year-old Jackie, who's affectionately known to us BSC members as a Walking Disaster, because he's accident-prone, and five-year-old Archie. Today, Shea would be at a piano lesson and dentist appointment, and Archie would be at a tumbling class, so there would just be Jackie. On the way, I told Bebe about what to expect while we were there.

"Now, Bebe," I began, "I should warn you that Jackie's pretty accident-prone, so don't be alarmed if something should happen, like if he gets his hand caught in the drain or in a jar or something like that. Believe me, we've baby-sat for the Rodowskys plenty of times, and if we can do it, so can you."

"Okay, Dawn," Bebe said. She sounded a little apprehensive, but I also knew that she could take comfort in knowing that I'd be there.

During the job, I mostly sat back and watched, just like those nannies on the reality shows when they observe the family dynamics before drawing up their game plan. Nothing unusual happened, other than what you'd expect at the Rodowskys', and Bebe handled it very well.

After Mrs. Rodowsky paid us, Bebe and I headed up the street. "Why don't you come with me to the BSC meeting?" I suggested.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah. You don't have to worry about how you'll get home, because Sam usually takes Kristy and Abby to meetings, and he'll make sure that you get home."

"Okay."

At that moment, we arrived at Claudia's house. We used to ring the doorbell, but since we're now frequent visitors, we don't have to anymore.

During the meeting, I gave my report on our job, then Kristy got a serious look on her face. "Bebe," she began. "You've heard how well you did. Would you like to join the BSC?"

"Yes!" Bebe exclaimed, bouncing around the room and hugging all of us.

"I'll be right back!" Claudia said.

A few minutes later, Claudia and Janine returned with armloads of soda. I chose the Crystal Light, Stacey chose the Diet Coke, and everyone else chose either Coke or Pepsi. "To the newest BSC member," Kristy said, raising her can.

"To the newest BSC member," we echoed, doing the same with our cans.

Bebe blushed. I could tell she was really flattered to hear that.

At the end of the month, Mary Anne and I were getting ready to go to the Halloween dance with our friends. Since no one had asked me, I decided to go stag. I was dressed up as Alice in Wonderland, and noticed that Mary Anne was going as Snow White. In my opinion, I think we made good costume choices, mostly due to our fair complexions.

"Is Mr. Bruno picking us up?" I asked.

"Yup," she answered. Just then, we heard a car horn honk outside. "Oh, here he is now."

The two of us ran outside and got into the Brunos' car. Logan got out and let me have the front seat. When he got out, I noticed that he was dressed as Prince Charming.

When we arrived at SHS, Mr. Bruno let us off at the door, where we met our friends. Here's what I saw: Kristy was dressed as a baseball player (what else?), Claud and Stacey were dressed as gypsies, even though Claud looked more like Esmerelda from _Hunchback of Notre Dame, _Abby was dressed as an old-fashioned nurse, and Jason was dressed as the Phantom of the Opera.

"Well, shall we?" Kristy asked, and the eight of us headed into the SHS gym. (I'm hoping Kristy doesn't think I'm a nutcase for saying this, but after she said "Shall we?", I very softly started singing the last line of "Happy Birthday".)

When we got inside, Kristy found Cary Retlin, who was dressed as a hunter, and they started dancing. Before too long, Claudia and Jason joined in, and Sam, who was dressed as Kurt Russell's character from _Escape from New York _and _Escape from L.A., _started dancing with Stacey.

I could understand why Mary Anne and Logan didn't start dancing. You see, last year at the first school dance of the year, Mary Anne and Logan were dancing when Mary Anne's shoe flew off and missed Mr. Kingbridge's head by an inch. After that, Mary Anne was too embarrassed to dance for the rest of the evening.

I felt someone tap me on the shoulder, and when I turned around, I saw Price Irving, who was dressed as Batman. "Hi, Price," I said.

"Hi, Dawn," he said. "Want to dance?"

"Sure," I answered. And isn't it a coincidence that the song that came on just happened to be "The Best of Times" by Styx?

As we danced, I couldn't help thinking that this was the best night ever.


	3. Chapter 3: November, Mary Anne

_**CHAPTER 3: November—Mary Anne**_

__I arrived at school on the day before Thanksgiving. The History project was due that day, but Logan and I had turned in our _Titanic _project the week before.

The morning went by in a flash. I had first period math with Kristy, Dawn, Abby, and Logan. At the end of class, Mrs. Fredericks stood up. "Since today is the day before Thanksgiving," she said, "there won't be any holiday homework."

We cheered as the bell rang, signalling the end of class. We got up and ran out of the room.

Second period was English with Stacey and Logan. I turned in our group project, which was to present a scene from either a Neil Simon or Noel Coward play. We presented a scene from Neil Simon's _The Star-Spangled Girl. _The scene we presented was Andy Hobart's introduction to Sophie Rauschmeyer when she comes running to him after Norman Cornell starts mopping her kitchen floor after she'd waxed it. (By the way, Stacey and Logan were the actors, and I was the director, but I did feed one line from my seat. That arrangement suited me just fine, since I'm terrified of being onstage, thanks to that ballet recital the summer I was seven.) We received an A, just as I'd expected.

In third period gym with Kristy and Stacey, we got to show off the acrobatics we'd been working on. Since I'm not the most athletic person in the world—something else I inherited from my parents, sorry to say—I couldn't help crashing into Kristy while I was doing it. We also learned that the next unit would be volleyball. Ugh. My most-hated sports activity. In fact, I still remember that one time in fifth grade when I'd almost broken Alan Gray's nose when I'd spiked the ball. Even though he has the maturity level of a five-year-old, I still felt terrible that he'd gotten hurt. Let's just say that for the first time in my life, I knew exactly how Ben Stiller felt in that one scene from _Meet the Parents._

In fourth period science with Stacey, we gave our report on the solar system. She did the talking, and I sat in the front row and put the visual aids up on the projector, which I was more than happy to do. Like I said before, I have terrible stage fright, so I could never be an actress. I'm just glad Stacey was there, so I couldn't run out of the room and puke, like Anne Hathaway did in that one scene from _The Princess Diaries._

At lunch time, Kristy, Logan, Jason, and I sat at our usual table. The day's lunch consisted of a turkey sandwich, mixed vegetables, apple crisp, and milk. For once, Kristy didn't make any disgusting comments about the school lunch, which I thought was a nice change of pace.

"You know what?" I said, taking a bite of apple crisp. "My Grandma Baker is coming for Thanksgiving."

"Really?" Logan asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.

I nodded as I took a sip of milk. "She should be at my house when I get home today."

"That's great," Kristy said, finishing her vegetables. All of my friends had met my grandmother, and they all seemed to like her.

"Yeah," Jason agreed, piling his trash on his tray. That's when we took our trays to the trash can. A few minutes later, the bell rang.

The afternoon also passed quickly. I had sixth period study hall with Jason. I had seventh period History with Kristy, Claud, Stacey, Logan, and Jason. Logan and I got our project back, with a B-plus. In eighth period Home Ec. with Stacey, we started on an apple pie, which wouldn't actually be done until after we'd left. I just hope the teacher doesn't accidentally turn the oven up, instead of off, when they'rea lmost done.

I couldn't wait to get home and see Grandma.

When we got home, we found Dad and Sharon in the living room. Both of them looked a little sad. "What's wrong?" I asked as I put my jacket on the hall tree.

"Sit down, girls," Dad said.

I sat in the arm chair, and Dawn sat on the couch. "What happened?" I asked.

"We just got a call from the airline," Dad began. "They told us that Grandma's plane had to make an emergency landing in Columbus, due to fog."

Upon hearing that, I just stared at them, unable to say a word. This wasn't what I was expecting to hear. I mean, I'd been looking forward to Grandma's coming to Stoneybrook since last spring. The last time she'd been here was to see SMS' production of _Carnival, _which I hadn't expected. And now, her flight had been grounded. "How long will it be before she can come?" I asked when I'd finally found my voice.

"We don't know yet," Dad answered. "The airline told us that the passengers would stay in Columbus overnight, then they'll see how conditions are in the morning."

"So, she'll still be able to come for Thanksgiving, right?" I asked hopefully.

"Well, there's a fairly good chance, honey," Dad said.

I was really disappointed that Grandma wouldn't be able to come until the day after Thanksgiving, or even later, for that matter. This year, Jeff would be flying in for Thanksgiving, and we'd still go to the airport to meet him. Hopefully, he'd make it, even if Grandma couldn't.

I knew this was going to be a holiday season that none of us had expected.


	4. Chapter 4: December, Claudia

_**CHAPTER 4: December—Claudia**_

__It was the Wednesday before Christmas, which also happened to be the last day of school before Christmas vacation. A lot had happened since Mary Anne found out that her grandmother's plane had been grounded in Columbus, due to fog. Janine and I had gone to the Christmas dance at school the weekend before. I had gone with Jason, and Janine had gone with her boyfriend, Jerry Michaels. First period was Art. At Mrs. Howe's request, we turned in our portfolios so she could grade them during vacation. I made sure to put mine on the top of the stack. One of the things I'd made sure to include was the butterfly drawing, or my "self-portrait", that I'd done when I was in first grade. Back then, I'd seen myself as a free spirit, like a butterfly, so that's why I drew it. But Miss Packett, my art teacher at the time, decided to be the ultimate bitch and chewed me out in front of the entire class. It was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. If Mimi hadn't given her a firm, but gentle, lecture about it, I probably would've given up on art completely. (Looking back on that, I now know that Miss Packett was not a very good teacher.)

Second period was Remedial Math. (I'm the only one of my friends in the Remedial classes, by the way.) We gave our homework to Mr. Lee, and were given a worksheet of Christmas word problems, which I've always had the most trouble with. The one I remember is, "Mary has $1,000 in her Christmas Club account. She has twenty people to shop for. How much is she allowed to spend on each person?"

Third period was Remedial English. Mrs. Yeager collected our homework, then told us that we had a book report due after Christmas. As soon as class ended, I asked her if I could do mine on a Nancy Drew mystery. Those are my favorite books, but I have to keep them hidden, because my parents think I should be reading more "classic" novels. The teacher told me that would be fine. I hoped my parents wouldn't have any objections, though.

Fourth period was gym. Mrs. Ferguson told us that we wouldn't be doing anything that day, but we'd start square-dancing after Christmas break. We just had a study hall that day.

During my regular fifth period study hall, Stacey helped me with my homework. I didn't have that much to do, though.

At lunch time, Stacey, Dawn, Abby, and I sat at our usual table. Lunch that day consisted of a ham sandwich, mixed fruit, and milk.

That was our last period of the day. We had the option of either leaving, or staying for the movie, which was to be shown in the study hall room. My friends and I decided to check out the movie, which turned out to be _A Christmas Story. _During the scene where Old Man Parker is beating the crap out of the furnace and yelling in gibberish, Abby leaned over to me and whispered, _"If I Were A Rich Man..." _I couldn't help giggling.

I just knew the holidays were going to be wonderful.

On Christmas morning, I felt like I was five years old again, because I was the first one up. The rule in our house is, no matter how excited you are on Christmas morning, unless you have to go to the bathroom, you can't leave your room until either Mom or Dad are awake. Of course, I had to go to the bathroom. I _knew _I shouldn't have had that second glass of eggnog!

Since my parents weren't up yet, as soon as I'd returned to my room, I decided to read the Nancy Drew book, I'd chosen for my book report. I pulled _The Phantom of Pine Hill _out from behind my pillow and began to read. When I heard one of my parents get up, I put a gum wrapper in the book to use as a bookmark, put it back in its place, and left my room.

I found Dad in the living room. "Good morning, Dad," I said.

"Ah, good morning, Claudia," he answered.

"Merry Christmas."

"You, too," he said. "Would you like to plug in the Christmas tree?"

"Sure," I said, crawling under the tree and plugging it in. I'm just glad I didn't blow a fuse in the process. In case you're wondering, not only can Dad not replace fuses quicker than a jackrabbit on a date, but he also doesn't buy them by the gross. Logan's dad, on the other hand, does both, with him being a contractor and all.

Before too long, Mom and Janine came downstairs. "Merry Christmas, girls," Mom said.

"Claudia, would you like to play Santa this year?" Mom asked.

"Sure," I said. I sat beside the tree and handed out the presents. I got a new art book from Dad, a new sweater from Mom, and a new sketch pad from Janine. (By the way, Mom let me pick out the sweater. It's black, and has little silver sparkles on it. The sparkles aren't quite as big as the ones on Tim Curry's dinner corset in _Rocky Horror.)_

Later that morning, Russ, Peaches, and Lynn came over. Lynn is almost two years old, and I love her to death. (She can also be a screamer, which I _don't _love.) Russ and Peaches had even made me Lynn's godmother, since she has my middle name.

Mom and Peaches cooked dinner. I remembered that before Mimi had her stroke, she'd cooked holiday dinners all by herself, then after her stroke, Mom helped her.

As I sat down to Christmas dinner, I thought that this had been the best Christmas ever, and I also knew that Mimi would've enjoyed it, too.


	5. Chapter 5: January, Stacey

_**CHAPTER 5: January—Stacey**_

__I returned to school on the day after New Year's. For the New Year's holiday, Mom and I had gone to New York. We'd left on the 30th, spent the day shopping, and stayed with the Spencers', which are my Uncle Lou, Aunt Beverly, and my cousins, Jonathon and Kirsten. On New Year's Eve, we left early in the morning to set up our spot to watch the ball drop. We still had a good spot, considering the fact that we'd never done that before.

"Having a good time, sweetie?" Mom asked while we waited for midnight. And you'd better believe we were freezing our asses off.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "It's too bad that this is Dick Clark's last year to do this."

Mom nodded in agreement.

"Ryan Seacrest is going to have HUGE shoes to fill."

"I'll say," Mom agreed. And it really _was _too bad, since Dick Clark had hosted New Year's Eve for I-don't-know-how many years. In my opinion, Regis Philbin didn't do a bad job the year he hosted while Dick Clark was recovering from his stroke, but Ryan Seacrest, of _American Idol _fame, would have to follow a legend. I don't mean to get off the subject here, but when Bob Barker announced he was retiring from _The Price Is Right, _I knew whoever they got to replace him—and it would later be determined that Drew Carey would get the job—would have a hard time replacing him, since he's hosted it for practically three and a half decades. And have you ever noticed how sympathetic Bob Barker is whenever a contestant loses? I'll never forget the time I was baby-sitting for the Hills', and eight-year-old Norman showed me his Bob Barker impression. I almost blew my milk out of my nose from laughing so hard.

About fifteen minutes later, everyone in Times Square and probably even at home, started counting down: "Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one...HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Amidst the rowdy, cheerful singing of "Auld Lang Syne" (at least these people were _slightly _sober, knew all the words, and knew what the hell a lang syne was), Mom turned to me and said, "Happy New Year, Stacey."

"Happy New Year, Mom," I said, getting misty-eyed. I thought of my childhood, the way my life changed after I was first diagnosed with diabetes, the day we first moved to Stoneybrook, and my friends in the BSC. I said a silent prayer for them, in the hopes that they were having a happy new year as well.

The next day, Mom and I returned to Stoneybrook on the afternoon of New Year's Day, and like I was saying before, I returned to school on the day after New Year's. I had first period Algebra with none of my BSC friends. I had second period English with Mary Anne and Logan. I had third period gym with Kristy and Mary Anne.

In gym class, we found out that we'd be starting square-dancing that day, and learned the basic steps. We'd be applying them the rest of the week, then have a square dance on Friday. We learned Allemande Left, Grand Right and Left, and Promenade, and were told we'd be doing those steps while "Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight" blared from the stereo. I heard it's supposedly a song about the Great Chicago Fire, which was rumored to have started when Mrs. O'Leary's cow accidentally knocked over a lantern. As we were getting started, I could tell that Mary Anne looked a little nervous.

"It'll be all right," I told her.

"Thanks, Stace," she said. That's when the music started, and we all started to dance.

Now, I'm not too sure, but I think I heard Alan Gray say to his partner, "Hey, after this, why don't we lead everyone in the Time Warp?" Part of me wanted to smack him for saying that, but at the same time, I couldn't really blame him, because I felt a little dorky myself.

I had fourth period science with Mary Anne. I had fifth period study hall with Claud, Dawn, and Abby. I spent most of the period helping Claud with her homework, which is really my _forte. _I'd had experience with that, because before Claud had to repeat some of seventh grade—which, by the way, she wasn't exactly happy about—I'd helped her with her homework then, too. I think doing that really helped her, though.

At lunch time, the four of us sat at our usual table. The day's lunch consisted of pizza (I'd brought a sandwich from home, because I can't eat the processed cheese), fruit cocktail, and milk. Since I could eat the other menu items, that's what I got.

"How was your trip to New York, Stacey?" Dawn asked as I sat down with my lunch tray.

"Great," I answered as I opened my milk. "We got to see the ball drop."

"I saw that on TV," Abby said, taking a bite of her applesauce. Like me, she didn't get pizza, mostly because she's allergic to tomatoes. "In fact, I still remember the New Year's Eve that Mom, Anna, and I spent on Sanibel Island."

"Cool," I said. "I think I remember reading about that in your autobiography last year."

As soon as we finished eating, we threw our trash away. Just then, the bell rang, and we all scattered. I had seventh period History with Kristy, Claud, Mary Anne, Logan, and Jason. During class, Mr. Reed told us that the second of our projects was due before we left for spring break. This time, I was paired with Mary Anne (last time, I'd been paired with Claud), and we decided to do ours on the Roaring Twenties.

I had eighth period Home Ec. With Mary Anne. We filled out a budgeting worksheet in our workbooks. After we finished, we tore the pages on the perforated line, and I ave mine to Mary Anne to turn in.

After school, I baby-sat for Charlotte Johanssen. She sure was different from the shy, clingy, friendless girl I'd met a couple of years ago. After she skipped a grade, she started to come out of her shell a little more, and make some friends.

"Hi, Stacey!" she said.

"Hi, Char," I said.

During the afternoon, Charlotte spent most of the time on the phone with her friends. Becca Ramsey even came over to hang out with her. I still couldn't believe that this was the same girl.

As soon as I got home, I finished my homework. When Mom came home, we ordered Chinese food. I know there's always something from there that I can eat.

I hoped the rest of the year would be just as good.


	6. Chapter 6: February, Jason

_**CHAPTER 6: February—Jason**_

__I woke up on the morning of February 9th, and remembered that it was my sixteenth birthday. As I got dressed, I recalled some of my other birthdays.

I remembered my fifth birthday in Manhattan. Mum had taken me and my friend, Luke Sullivan, as well as Luke's mum, to Chuck E. Cheese, and we had a ball. Luke and I were going to have a pizza-eating contest, but our mums stopped us, because they didn't want us making ourselves sick, which would've been the last thing either of them wanted. Now that I think about it, I don't know which would've been worse for them: that, or doing what the kids at the _Carnival _cast party had done. To this day, I can still hear Watson saying, "STEP AWAY FROM THE SUGAR."

Next, I remembered my eight birthday, which seemed like a million years, but was really only half my lifetime, ago. That year, I got two very special presents. Mum had given me my real father's ID tags from the Scottish Army, which I still wear even today, and Steve had taken me and Luke, as well as Luke's dad, to a Bon Jovi concert at Madison Square Garden. At the concert, two bigger kids tried to beat the crap out of me and Luke, but Steve stopped them before they could do so. After that, Steve taught me self-defense, which has come to great use over the years.

I also remembered my eleventh birthday. At the time, Granny, Mum's mother, was dying of bone cancer, and she'd given me her Celtic cross ring. She'd gotten it for her sixteenth birthday, and she'd left it to me in her will. It's also something else I wear to this day. I also thought it felt a little strange to be the same age Granny was when she'd gotten that ring.

Anyway, when I got to the kitchen, Mum was fixing breakfast. "Good morning," I said.

"Happy birthday," she answered.

"Thanks," I said. "You know, the weather seems to have warmed up a bit, so I thought I'd ride my motor scooter to school today."

"Okay, that's fine."

"If Bebe wants, I can even drop her off at SMS."

Bebe entered the kitchen just in time to hear this. "Sure!" she said.

As soon as we'd finished breakfast, we headed out the door. I dropped Bebe off at SMS, and headed to SHS.

When I arrived at SHS, I parked my motor scooter in the student parking lot and went inside. Even though the students who drive park there, the principal said that it was all right for me to park my motor scooter there, too.

While I was at my locker getting my books, Claudia passed by. "Hi, Jason," she said, giving me a kiss on the lips. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," I said.

In Chorus, Mr. Metz made the entire class sing "Happy Birthday" to me. I didn't mind one bit, not even the fact that they were purposely singing off-key, out of tune, you name it. In fact, after they'd finished, I said, in my best Simon Cowell voice, "That was simply dreadful. You all sounded like a bunch of drill sergeants with your hands caught in the garbage disposal."

Man, I'd never heard such raucous laughter in my life! After they'd calmed down, Pete Black managed to gasp out, "Just don't ask us where your slippers are, okay?" And another round of laughter ensued.

As I was heading to gym class, I saw the announcements on the bulletin board, announcing the cast for the all-school play, _M.A.S.H., _which, I'm told, is more like the movie than the TV show, and the senior class play, _The Mousetrap._

I made it through the rest of the morning: second period gym with Abby, third period math with none of my BSC friends (oh, well); and fourth period English with Dawn and Abby.

Soon, it was time for lunch. Kristy, Mary Anne, Logan, and I sat at our usual table.

"So, what are your plans for this afternoon?" Kristy asked as she bit into a chicken ring. Logan once told me how he'd make the SMS cooks laugh by calling them chicken donuts instead of chicken rings. He's done that here, too.

"Well, after I leave here, I'm baby-sitting for Karen and Andrew at their mum's house," I answered. "Then when I get home, Mum and Steve are taking me out to Pietro's for my birthday." Pietro's is an Italian restaurant near Washington Mall, and it happens to be one of my family's favorite places.

The afternoon also passed quickly. I had sixth period study hall with Mary Anne. I had seventh period History with Kristy, Claud, Mary Anne, Stacey, and Logan. I had eighth period with Kristy, Abby, and Logan. As soon as the last bell rang, I went to my locker, got out a couple of books, picked Bebe up at SMS, and dropped her off at her baby-sitting job at the Newtons', then headed over to Forest Drive, where Lisa and Seth Engle, Karen and Andrew's mother and stepfather, live.

"Hi, Jason," their mother said when she answered the door.

"Hi," I said.

"Karen and Andrew should be getting off the bus in a few minutes," she told me. "I also heard that it's your birthday. Happy birthday."

"Thanks," I said. "How did you know?"

"I ran into your mom while I was at the grocery store," she answered, "and she told me."

"Thanks."

At that moment, Karen and Andrew came barreling through the front door. "Hi, Jason!" Karen said, giving me a hug. She can still manage to knock the wind out of me. I wonder if there are any linebackers in her family? On the upside, she didn't say, "Thank you, Papa!" when she was hugging me. "Kristy called me last night and told me today was your birthday. Happy birthday."

"Hi," I answered. "Thanks."

"I just have some errands to run, and I'm going to stop by Seth's workshop for a little bit, so I should be back in a couple of hours. If you need anything, the number for the workshop is right by the phone," Lisa said. "Well, see you later."

After their mother left, I said, "So, what would you guys like?"

"How about popcorn?" Karen suggested. I opened the cupboard, and found the popcorn. They have the kind with movie-theater butter, which, in my opinion, is the best kind ever, next to the caramel kind.

After our snack, Karen started her homework. Time passed rather quickly, and before too long, Mrs. Engle returned. After she paid me, I got back on my motor scooter, picked Bebe up at the Newtons', and returned home.

As soon as we got home, the four of us went out to Pietro's. I decided that, next to my eighth birthday, this was the best one ever.


	7. Chapter 7: March, Logan

_**CHAPTER 7: March—Logan**_

__I arrived at school on March 1st, got my books out of my locker, and headed to homeroom. When I got there, King _(don't _call him Clarence, because he hates that) was his usual, mature self. "So, Bruno, you find a cure for diaper rash yet?" he snickered.

"Why, do you have a problem that you'd wish to discuss?" I teased. "If you do, I've got a whole boxful of cornstarch in my locker."

You know something? For the first time ever, he didn't have an answer for that!

After homeroom, I met up with Kristy, Mary Anne, Dawn, and Abby outside Room 201. "Ready?" I asked.

"Yup," Kristy answered. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

During class, we sat in the row next to the window. I sat in the front, Mary Anne sat behind me, and Abby sat in the back. Kristy sat in front of Abby, and Dawn sat between Kristy and Mary Anne. We were ready for our math test, even though I could tell that Abby was clearly more than a little apprehensive, which I could sort of understand. You see, last spring, when Abby was preparing for her Bat Mitzvah, she got so busy with that, baby-sitting, and classes, she actually bought a cheat sheet from Brad Simon, who worked in the office, and also told her that it was a "study guide". As a result, she was suspended for three days. Later, she caught wind of what was going on, and stopped Mary Anne from making a similar mistake. In fact, when the story reached Mrs. Stevenson, she went to the school, with every intention of chewing Mrs. Frost's ass out, but when she heard Mrs. Frost praising Abby for coming forward, she was never more proud.

In second period English with Mary Anne and Stacey, which was in Room 114, we turned in our essays and started on the next unit, which was about _Hamlet. _It was a little hard to understand the way those people talked, but at least it didn't have some nutjob stalker mopping this girl's kitchen floor after she'd waxed it.

In third period Wood Shop, which was around the back of the building, I finished the little night table I was making. I planned to give it to Kerry for her birthday, which was next week.

During fourth period study hall, which was in Room 105, I said to Kristy, "Don't forget that I have track practice this afternoon."

"I know," she said. "You're not scheduled for any jobs, so it's all right."

"Thanks," I smiled.

During lunch, Kristy, Mary Anne, Jason, and I sat at our usual table. "How's everything going?" I asked, taking a bite of my cheeseburger.

"Pretty good," Jason answered.

After lunch, the afternoon went like this: sixth period gym with none of my BSC friends. We did basketball that day. I also had to put up with King and his friends giving me their crap about me and Jason baby-sitting. Thankfully, Jason wasn't in my class, because he really would've let them have it. On second thought, maybe they wouldn't have bothered, especially since the entire eighth grade had seen Jason almost get into a fight with this one kid named T-Jam one day at lunch last year (specifically, on Jason's first day). Seventh period was History with Kristy, Claud, Mary Anne, Stacey, and Jason. We were studying the Civil War, not to mention Mr. Reed reminding us that our second project was due soon. Jason and I were doing ours on the Great Depression. Eighth period was science with Kristy, Abby, and Jason, which included grading Chapter 9 questions.

After school, I called Mom on the pay phone, which was by the entrance. It's the only one at the school, sorry to say; those are becoming a thing of the past, with the invention of cell phones. I asked her to meet me outside before track practice, because I planned to put Kerry's birthday present in her car. After I hung up, I returned to the Wood Shop classroom to retrieve it.

When I came back outside, Mom was already waiting with the car, so I put the night table in the backseat. "Now, put this in the backseat. "Now, put this in my room and cover it with a sheet," I said as I shut the door. "I want it to be a nice birthday surprise for Kerry."

"Okay," Mom agreed. I just knew that Kerry was going to love the night table.

"See you later, Mom," I said I ran to the track. As usual, King had a not-so-subtle comment for me.

"No work today, huh?"

"Shove it, King," I said sharply as I began stretching. To my surprise, he actually backed off. Could he be losing his touch? God, I hope so!


	8. Chapter 8: April, Abby

_**CHAPTER 8: April—Abby**_

It was the first day back to school after spring break. The all-school and senior class plays would be the following two weekends. Today, we were going to find out the usher assignments for both plays.

I met up with Kristy in the hallway at the end of the day. We saw the assignment lists on the bulletin board outside Mr. D'Amato's office.

"Wow, Abby, you and I are the freshman ushers," she said. Then, "Oh, shit."

"What?" I asked.

"Janet Gates and Leslie Howard are going to be the sophomore ushers. You and Janet are supposed to usher during _M.A.S.H., _and Leslie and I are supposed to usher during _The Mousetrap."_

"What's wrong with that?"

"Well, you see, soon after we started the BSC, two girls named Liz Lewis and Michelle Patterson formed their own club called the Baby-sitters Agency, and they tried to take away our business," Kristy explained. "They were the most irresponsible baby-sitters on the face of the earth, too! In fact, one day, Claud, Mary Anne, Stacey, and I found Jamie Newton playing by himself, near the street, with no hat or mittens. The sight was scary enough that you would've had the Hail Mary of all asthma attacks." I nodded, because last year, that did happen to me while I was baby-sitting for the Papadakises. "Anyway," Kristy continued, "it seemed that the Agency had sent one of _their _sitters, and that's when we realized just how irresponsible they were." She looked like she was going to either start crying, or throw something.

"But what do Janet and Leslie have to do with them?"

"Well, you see, the BSC tried to recruit older sitters to take on the late-night jobs," Kristy explained. "Janet and Leslie were our choices, and they were awful."

"What happened?"

"Well, they didn't show up for the baby-sitting jobs we'd assigned them, thus forcing the parents to either make other arrangements or cancel their plans. It was all part of their plan to give the BSC a bad name. That's not even the worst part, though. You see, they were only _pretending _to be BSC members, but they were actually part of the Agency..." She said that word as if it were as welcome as a root canal "...the _entire time."_

_ "Oy," _I said. "What happened to the Baby-sitters Agency?"

"They went out of business, thank God," Kristy answered. "See, we encouraged the kids we baby-sit for to talk to their parents if they were unhappy with the Agency sitters, so they did. In fact, Mrs. Newton was the first one we told, and you know, they say word travels fast. Before too long, the Agency went out of business. I'm guessing they couldn't accept the fact that we were more mature and responsible than they were."

I put an arm around Kristy, and we went outside to wait for the bus.

Well, it was finally opening night for _M.A.S.H., _the all-school play. I wasn't surprised at all that Sam Thomas got to be Hawkeye. That part fits him well.  
I noticed a girl with long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, and dressed like a Goth chick. She was also chewing at least a dozen pieces of gum. "Hi," I said. "Are you Janet Gates?"

"Yup," she answered, snapping her gum.

"I'm Abby Stevenson," I said. "I guess I'm your helper."

"Good," she said, snapping her gum some more. I wondered if she'd ever been afraid of turning into a giant blueberry. After hearing what Kristy had to say about her, that might actually be a good thing. "Here's a stack of programs. Just stand by that door and hand them out. I was a freshman usher last year, so I know the drill."

"Okay," I said. I watched Janet spit her gum into the trash can, then she picked up a stack of programs, and we stood at both doors.

While people were filing into the auditorium, I felt my right temple itching, so I reached up with my hand, programs and all, and started to scratch it. Then I got a really silly idea. I divided my stack of programs in half, and started waving a couple of them around like an air-traffic controller, scratched my head with one program, and brushed my shoulder with the other, while saying to myself, "Is your dandruff shampoo sending the wrong signals?" After saying that, I very quietly made the sound effect of a plane revving, then screamed very quietly with a horrified look on my face. I got a few puzzled looks from people, but Janet was doubled over with laughter. (If Mom had been there, she would've asked me if I enjoyed acting like an idiot.) I took that as a good sign that she'd matured a little over the past couple of years, from what I remembered Kristy saying about her.

After the show, I shook Janet's hand. "Good job," she said.

"Thanks," I answered. "You, too."

I hoped the other BSC members (namely Kristy, Claud, Mary Anne, and Stacey) would find it within themselves to bury the hatchet with Janet and Leslie.


	9. Chapter 9: May, Kristy

_**CHAPTER 9: May—Kristy**_

__It was the first Monday in May. As I got off the bus, I realized that I really needed to talk to Cary, because I felt that our relationship wasn't going anywhere. I also remembered something that my so-called "dad" once told me about having to break up a relationship: "It's kind of like taking a physical, unpleasant, but necessary."

"Cary, I really need to talk to you," I said as I got my math book out of my locker.

"Okay," he said. "Shoot."

This was it. The point of no return. "Well, um, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately," I began. "You know, we haven't seen much of each other."

"Yeah, I've noticed that, too," he said. "You've been busy with your baby-sitting and that club of yours, and I've been busy with the debate team, not to mention getting my grades up before finals. We hardly ever see each other anymore, except in homeroom and English class."

"So..." I said.

"Well..." he said.

"I guess this means we're breaking up."

"I guess so."

I won't lie to you, I was kind of sorry to see this happening. After all, he may have been kind of a jerk, but he was able to win me over after we basically got stuck teaching gym class during Teachers of Tomorrow week at SMS, and I really grew to like him. Sure, it wasn't as much fun as when Bart and I were dating, but he's still a nice guy.

"Well, see you around," I said at last.

"You, too."

"Sorry it didn't work out."

"Yeah, _c'est la vie."_

"Better luck next time."

"Thanks."

I know what you're probably thinking: All right, Thomas, we get it! Let's move on! (exasperated sigh)

That evening after dinner, I was in the kitchen fixing myself a smoothie. Emily was sitting at the kitchen table with a Dora the Explorer coloring book in front of her and a black crayon in her right hand. "Hi, Kristy," she said as she colored Dora's hair. And isn't it a coincidence that Emily looks a little like Dora? The only difference is, Emily's Vietnamese and Dora's Spanish, if I'm not mistaken. Not only is Emily starting to get more of a firm grasp on the English language, but she's starting to do a better job of staying in the lines when she colors.

"Hi," I answered.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm all right. It's just that I don't have a boyfriend anymore," I answered.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, laying her crayon down. "Did you two have a fight?"

I shook my head. "It's just that we've both been so busy with other things, and haven't spent much time together, but we're still friends, so everything's okay."

"Oh, okay," she said.

"Would you like a smoothie?"

"Sure," Emily said. She closed her coloring book, put her crayons in the box, and put everything in her Rugrats bag, then slung the bag on the back of her chair.

I was glad that Emily was able to understand what happened, and just being with her made me feel a little better.

The following Saturday, we went to the Guide Dog Foundation for the graduation. All of the puppy walker families had been invited to see their puppy/dog graduate. We were also going to get a chance to meet Scout's blind companion, a woman named Denise.

We saw a woman with reddish-brown hair, and she was wearing a dark blue blouse and jeans skirt. The woman had to be Denise.

Mom led the way, and we approached her. "Hi," I said. "You must be Denise."

"Yeah," she answered.

"We're Scout's puppy walker family," Watson told her.

"Nice to meet you," she said, shaking our hands.

"You'll really like Scout," Karen told her.

"Thanks."

I thought about telling Denise about the time that Karen had given Scout one of Jackie Rodowsky's old shoes to chew on, but I changed my mind.

"I just thought I'd let you know something," I told her. "You may go to some places where someone will disapprove of you having a dog with you, because one time, when we took Scout into the grocery store, a woman was there, and she wasn't too happy about Scout being there, until the manager settled it."

"Oh, boy," Denise said.

"If there weren't so many people around, I would've given that loudmouth a piece of my mind."

"I'll be careful," Denise promised. "Of course, anyone with half a gnat's brain knows that a guide dog can go anywhere a person can go."

"Yeah, that's true."

"Well, I've got to go. I'll talk to you guys later, okay?"

"See you."

We found a seat, and soon the ceremony got underway. I don't remember much about it, because I was watching Denise and Scout. I remember seeing how happy they looked together, and I knew that Scout would have a good life.


	10. Chapter 10: June, Mary Anne

A/N: This is the last chapter, as well as the end of the school year.

_**CHAPTER 10: June—Mary Anne**_

__It was the last day of school. I couldn't believe how quickly the school year had gone by.

The morning passed quickly: math, English, gym, and science. I turned in my books, took my math and science finals (and got to leave as soon as I'd finished), and got my English final back. As I'd expected, I got an A. (The Baker side of my family must have pretty smart genes, because I saw one of Mama's old report cards once, and she got all A's when she was in school, too.)

At lunch time, Kristy, Logan, Jason, and I sat at our usual table. "I can't believe this school year's over," Jason said, opening his juice box.

"I know," Kristy agreed, taking a bite of her cheeseburger.

Tears started to fill my eyes, and Logan put his arm around me. I brushed my tears away, and decided that I wasn't going to cry. Part of it was because King, the second-biggest goofball in the freshman class, was sitting at the next table, and I know exactly what he would've done if he'd seen that. He would've done the _Miss Congeniality _bit (you know, putting four fingers over his mouth and fanning himself with his other hand) before doing a rendition of "A Moment Like This" that was so awful, even William Hung would've wrestled him to the ground, hog-tied him, and stuffed a sock in his mouth. Now that I think about it, that would've really made my day.

At another table, I saw Alan Gray looking in our direction. I think he was also waiting to see if I would start crying, because he lifted his shirt, put his left hand over his left eye, and started fake-sobbing. I couldn't resist smiling at that, and also thought he'd seen the 1980 episode of _I Love the '80s 3-D _too many times. On that episode, Michael Ian Black (of _Ed _and _The State) _did that bit when they talked about _Fame, The Elephant Man, My Bodyguard, _Sugar Ray Leonard, and Richard Pryor almost blowing himself up from freebasing cocaine.

The afternoon also passed quickly: study hall, History, and Home Ec. Even though Dawn and I have History at different times, Mr. Reed still let us pair together for our final project, which was on the hippie movement, since Dawn's friend, Sunny, and her parents are former hippies, hence Sunny's real name, Sunshine. We had no tests in those classes, because we'd taken them the day before. I got a B-minus on my History test, and an A-minus on my Home Ec. Test. Dawn and I had gotten a B-plus on our project.

At the end of the day, we met up at our lockers to clean them out. "It's been quite a year, huh?" I commented as I spun the dial on my locker. After I _finally _got it open, I started to clean it out. I sure would like to get my hands on the genius who invented that kind of lock.

"It's been interesting," Jason agreed.

"We had quite a fun year," Dawn added.

"Well, one down, three to go," Claud said.

"Yup," I agreed.

"Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!" Stacey said in her Porky Pig voice.

We all laughed as we headed outside. Claudia and Jason got on his motor scooter, Kristy and Abby got into Sam's Jeep, and the rest of us started to walk home.

In my opinion, this had been a great year, even if Grandma didn't make it for Thanksgiving.

**THE END**


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